Stacked Strat Bridge Pickup project!

[big_teee]

Yesterday I Scrapped, and peeled the first Strat pickup.
I put the 6- .781" A5 Mags in the Stacked made from the Humbucker Bobbins.
I put some metal shielding tape between the bobbins.
When I played it, I noticed it had become brighter and harsher.
Also in the process the new A5s with the shielding tape, had become very microphonic.
Didn't have that with the A2s and no shielding tape.
Also with the longer magnets, they may have been touching the metal baseplate on the bottom.
The A2s were short and didn't touch the metal baseplate. So that may be the microphonic source.
I could put some tape under the bobbin to rule that out.
So far I prefer the Stack over the Tapped pickup.
Also a feature I like better than the Tapped pickup, is when you play the Stacked in Split mode.
The stacked pickup when split using the top only coil, is just as loud as in hum canceling mode.
So you don't get that annoying half volume issue, you have with Tapped Pickups.
Next will be to mount the two stacked bobbins on strat flatwork and get it in the Strat test guitar.
I have a switch for split mode.
So far I've learned the following.
1. Use Overwound bobbins (Pickup is inherently bright)
2. Because of the brightness issue I preferred A2 Magnets, and a larger tone Cap.
3. Pickup splits well if using top bobbin.
4. Equal bobbin height seems to help keep the pickup in phase (You want the N/S null between the bobbins)
5. If both bobbins are wound the same direction, tie the output to one start lead, tie the finish leads together, and ground the other start.
Or you can feed and ground the finsih leads and tie the starts together, either way.
6. Bobbins wound CCW and Magnets North up, is compatible with most humbuckers. If used with SCs, you may have to experiment with this.
7. Using Humbucker bobbins instead of flatwork is easier than a one piece forbon dual bobbin. Instead of using black humbucker tape, you can use white Teflon tape, if the bobbin is white, or vintage white.
8. If using humbucker bobbins for bridge pickups in Fender type guitars, for better pole allignment, use the 53mm Humbucker bobbins.

** The above Info is non Conclusive, and Strictly the Opinions of BigT.
You are encouraged to try this one, and your Mileage and results may Vary!
Good Luck,

I put the pickup in the strat guitar.
I made a strat baseplate, put the A2s back in the pickup.
Potted the pickup and wired it to a Splitting switch.
The pickup Works great.
Sounds good Split and Humbucking mode.
The A2 Magnets, IMO really make a difference.
Also with the 250k volume it tames some of the inherent brightness.
So if I make another one, I could go back to the flatwork style pickup.
Give it a try.
Terry

[big_teee]

I played the pickup some more on fresh ears, and it is still a winner.
My test strat currently has Neck and middle blades, and the stacked in the bridge.
I think my next version will be a Stacked Humbucker bobbin for the neck.
Also I can use 49.2mm bobbins, making better string alignment for the neck position.
Will try some different sized wire for it.
Also On the new stacked bridge pickup I'm going to swap out the A, & E magnets, from A2s To A5s.
Making it a 4/2 Combo. This should make the bass strings stronger.
So for the time being, I'm going to stick with the Humbucker bobbin prototype.
Easier simplicity, and testing with the stackable humbucker bobbins.

**Edit Note:
I did replace the A, & E magnets from A2, to A5 Magnets.
This did strengthen the Low strings.
So this Bridge Pickup is finished, and will stay as is.
Next will work on a Neck pickup, looking for vintage Single Coil Neck tone, in a Stacked Pickup.

[Stratz]

Good job Terry

I'm going the give the stacked Tele bridge a shot per yours and Robs D's threads.
I found some .187" x .815" and .835" A5 rods so I'll be able to either build it with raised D&G poles or just have a taller bobbin overall.
Now I need to figure out the bobbin spacing, wire gauge and turn counts.

[copperheadroads]

Everyone's getting "Stack Fever"

[Stratz]

Everyone's getting "Stack Fever"

Well, I've done the stacked Strat and a P-90 variant in the past so why not try a Tele

I've actually been playing my Tele's a lot lately. My Strats all have compound radiused boards and very tall frets while my Tele's have 9.5" and 12" radius boards, shorter frets and lower action.

For me the difference in the fret boards and the overall difference in the sound of the two guitars has a big effect on what I play and how I play it. It's always fun and good for my playing to change things up once in a while

[big_teee]

Good job Terry

I'm going the give the stacked Tele bridge a shot per yours and Robs D's threads.
I found some .187" x .815" and .835" A5 rods so I'll be able to either build it with raised D&G poles or just have a taller bobbin overall.
Now I need to figure out the bobbin spacing, wire gauge and turn counts.

Sounds good, only problem I see you having is your adjustment screws may be too short.
I used the .710 magnets and my #6x3/4" were barely long enough.
T

[Stratz]

6-32 screws I got but I still need to measure the body rout first to see just how deep I can go

Seriously though. I haven't even decided on any dimensions for the pickup yet. Thanks for the tip.

[copperheadroads]

Sounds good, only problem I see you having is your adjustment screws may be too short.
I used the .710 magnets and my #6x3/4" were barely long enough.
T

I ran into that trouble as well
I use #6x1" for some of the stack pups

[big_teee]

I was asked to post some more pictures of the Strat Humbucker bobbin prototype Pickup.
It is not too pretty, and is a 2.0 prototype that has been beat on quite a bit.
A new 2.0 can be made to look better, and this was the test bed and the starting point for the 3.0 forbon flatwork model.
Here it is. Middle pickup in the pickguard.
A full description of specs and how-tos are throughout the thread.
Good Luck,

[Stratz]

Good jog Terry

[big_teee]

Trying to reattach the pictures that are no longer working.

[big_teee]

Just wanted to wake up this thread.
To remind others of how good this test pickup sounded and how easy it is to make.
If you did make a similar Pickup, please let us know how yours sounded and turned out.
It is the middle pickup in this Pickguard Picture.


T

[jbforrer]

Greetings,

My 2 cents ...

A few years ago made a few of this style pickups. These were copied from a vintage Seymour Duncan STK-1 I had in my pickup collection.
Same idea with those coaxially-stacked coils as done by S-D also DiMarzio.

Picture shown the completed set as installed on my tester guitar. Fortunately, happen to have had a set of SD covers to finish off the project.
Middle is a real S-D STK-1, Neck is my replica made with A5 rods, Bridge is a blade.
These pickups sound somewhat darker than regular single-coil Strat, perhaps more mids and less brightness/harmonics. Yet smooth and enjoyable.

Since then, I produced several sets that went to friends in the UK and Australia. Those had different magnets and own coil winds and wire. Was an attempt to get a bit closer to vintage Strat sound. The outcome is something more like an overwound Strat single coil. I like the sound for my music style and as a bonus have quite a bit more output.

Final picture shows the computer evaluation & characterising process. Pretty much as described by H. Lemme.

I'm not in the pickup-making business; just a hobby, having fun working on my sound.

Regards.
--JBF.

[big_teee]

Looks like we had similar results.
Mine was for a bridge Pickup.
Never did get back on the project, and make the neck pickup I intended to.
T

[David Schwab]

Rob you missed the concept.
On 2 bobbins stacked.
What I did was put the divider between forbon.
That makes 2- 1/4inch inch bobbins.
A humbucker slug bobbin takes a .187" slug.
a .187" magnet will go right through it
So you slide the magnet through the 2 bobbins stacked.
Will make a great test setup.
I'm back to trying to change things tonally.
I've ruled out 42 gauge, and next will try the 44 gauge to make the tone darker.
With the 2 humbucker test bobbins it will be easy to try the shield between them and try different shielding on the coils.

When I did my first stack, I would it to 11.36K. I used 42AWG. What I discovered it is was much brighter than expected. This is because the two coils are out-of-phase and cancel some low end.

If you look at commercial stacks, they all read high, around 20k. So you probably need the thinner wire to get more turns on them.

This pickup actually sounded very good for a vintage Tele tone, but that wasn't what I wanted.

I haven't done any stacks in a while, but I started working on this, just to see what I get. I'm planning on using 44 awg since it's not very tall.